@topgold on good social networks

May 19, 2011

Sharing My Personal Area Network

I REALISED THAT I am starting to monitor my monthly mobile data usage and that my behaviour could indicate a trend. On my Nokia E7, my data usage is around 500 MB down and 400 MB upstream every 30 days. On my Huawei E585 Mifi dongle (shown snuggling next to my coffee cup), I normally use less than 250 MB per month while sharing with up to four other people simultaneously. Even power users like Christian Payne rarely push the Mifi account above 250 MB a week. Recent conversations caused me to realise my open and unlocked dongle (SSID Bern-ie) is unique. I've heard people with iPhones say things like, "Hey, I'm connected to Bernie" as they hit the mobile web at speeds faster than their phones normally serve them. I'm effectively extending my personal area network to entire train carriages, coaches of tourists and happy pub customers. This is a relatively new side effect of my O2 contract and I'm happy to oblige as long as my monthly costs remain less than EUR 100 for both SIMs running for most of the work day. The world needs more people to share their personal area networks.

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Sharing My Personal Area Network

I REALISED THAT I am starting to monitor my monthly mobile data usage and that my behaviour could indicate a trend. On my Nokia E7, my data usage is around 500 MB down and 400 MB upstream every 30 days. On my Huawei E585 Mifi dongle (shown snuggling next to my coffee cup), I normally use less than 250 MB per month while sharing with up to four other people simultaneously. Even power users like Christian Payne rarely push the Mifi account above 250 MB a week. Recent conversations caused me to realise my open and unlocked dongle (SSID Bern-ie) is unique. I've heard people with iPhones say things like, "Hey, I'm connected to Bernie" as they hit the mobile web at speeds faster than their phones normally serve them. I'm effectively extending my personal area network to entire train carriages, coaches of tourists and happy pub customers. This is a relatively new side effect of my O2 contract and I'm happy to oblige as long as my monthly costs remain less than EUR 100 for both SIMs running for most of the work day. The world needs more people to share their personal area networks.